Rejection of the Black
by Gigabomb
Summary: Gaara, Tsunade. Gaara wants to be human. Tsunade convinces him otherwise.


Author's Note: Done on request from ouatic 7.

Despite whatever impression she gave to her subordinates whenever one of them announced yet another meeting with newly appointed Godaime Kazekage, Tsunade didn't hate Gaara. The scarlet-haired shinobi was a ruthless killer with no inhibitions to speak of, but for a ninja, that was a virtue, not a personal failing. Of course, the Kazekage was also possessed by a demon, but Tsunade had never been one to let something so trivial affect her opinion of someone. Besides, if she did, she might as well tattoo 'hypocrite' across her forehead, because her chosen successor (unofficial successor of course; if her advisors caught wind of her plans for Naruto, they'd either shuttle her off to Konoha's insane asylum for some intensive therapy or execute her as a traitor) wasn't exactly human himself. So Tsunade didn't hate Gaara, no. She just found him extremely irritating to deal with, and even that wasn't really his fault.

Tsunade sometimes wondered what crackpots Sunagakure had stuck on their council, because rampant insanity was the only decent explanation for their series of poor choices over the years. The election of Gaara's father as the Yondaime Kazekage had been bad enough. Tsunade had never met the Sand's Fourth personally, but she had read enough reports from the old days to know that if it hadn't been for the progeny that particular Wind Shadow had somehow managed to produce, Sand Village would have been better off if the man had been drowned at birth. But needless to say, those old fools hadn't learned from past mistakes as had been proven by their most recent decision. What had the council been _thinking _when they made a boy with barely fifteen years behind him the leader of their village, a boy with a history of instability, at that?

The Shadow of one of the Great Shinobi Villages was supposed to be the most powerful ninja of the nation and for that prerequisite Gaara was perfectly qualified, but otherwise… you needed maturity and experience to lead a nation, doubly so for a nation of assassins, and time was required to acquire those traits. Time a fifteen year old child simply hadn't had yet, and it didn't help that when it came to interpersonal relations with people, Gaara was somewhat retarded. Through her limited dealings with the Sand's new leader, the boy had made that particularly evident. He didn't know how to negotiate, to bargain, to compromise. In the field of diplomacy, the scarlet-haired Sand-nin was an amateur. Worse, he was an amateur with neither the talent nor the inclination to ever gain any skill as politician. Tsunade honestly couldn't think of anyone who was least suited for the role the Gaara was currently playing. Even Naruto wasn't so painfully blunt.

"No," the newly instated Godaime Kazekage said for what felt for the hundredth time that evening. It was actually the sixth, but any diplomat could have told you that _no_ was the most taboo word in the vocabulary of a representative of a government, especially when it wasn't followed immediately by a detailed and mollifying explanation, preferably with a compromise thrown in. Tsunade waited patiently, but it was obvious no other words were forthcoming. In the corner, the Wind Shadow's older sister shifted uncomfortably, which made Tsunade suspect that the Sand jounin had more experience in politics than her younger brother, but even the Kazekage's sibling didn't dare contradict him in public for fear it would undermine his authority.

That had always been the most frustrating aspect of dealing with the Sand. Their hierarchy was so damned rigid it would take a national emergency for a shinobi to ever counter anything a superior said, or even try and mitigate the damage. So the Kazekage's honor guard stood there, the more courageous ones sending Tsunade apologetic looks every couple of minutes as if to say, "He doesn't mean to be so abrupt. Please, don't break off the treaty and leave us open to invasion by the Stone. We can't afford a war right now." It was mostly for their sake that Tsunade didn't just snap and tell Gaara to leave and come back after he gained some subtlety and four inches in height. She was currently experimenting with different ways of holding back that particular urge, one method being to pinch the bridge of her nose, another to rub her temples whenever Gaara said something especially grating. Sighing helped some too, though Tsunade was beginning to think she should avoid that tactic in the future as more than one of her assistants had asked her if she was getting tired and if they should put of the rest of the negotiations until the next morning, which was the last thing Tsunade wanted to do. It was best to get this sort of ordeal over with as fast as possible, so at Gaara's sixth "no," Tsunade simply smiled in what she hoped was a pleasant manner, though by that time it was probably getting a little strained around the edges.

"Do you have any reason to think having Sonkei Village as the rendezvous point for exchange of high-risk goods is a bad idea?"

For several seconds, the young Kazekage didn't respond, but when he finally did open his mouth to say something, Kotetsu rushed into the room through one of the side doors and towards Tsunade's desk, bumping Gaara roughly in his haste.

"Godaime-sama, one of our patrols has-" It was then the screaming started. For a moment, all everyone in the room could do was watch in horrified fascination as a tendril of sand latched onto the chuunin's leg and started to squeeze. Everyone but Tsunade, that is. She might not have put much stock in the rumors she had heard about Gaara, but she sure as hell hadn't forgotten them. Vaulting over her desk, Tsunade quickly focused her chakra into her hand and thrust her fist into the writhing mass of crushed rock, breaking it apart and forcing it to release its hold on her secretary's leg. She then turned to Gaara, barely hearing Kotetsu's shaky thanks. The look on the scarlet-haired shinobi's face was startling, enough to make Tsunade pause. His eyes were impossibly wide, his mouth slightly open, his entire form shaking. The Godaime Kazekage was terrified… but not of her. His stare was unblinkingly focused on Kotetsu, who was still on the floor examining his leg for damage. However, no matter how unexpected Gaara's expression was, Tsunade never let her personal feelings get in the way of her duty.

It was with this ideal in mine that Tsunade walked towards the Kazekage. The shield of sand that rose up around Gaara to try and protect him from Tsunade's approach was under normal circumstances a formidable defense, but not against someone of Tsunade's level. It was child's play to shove her hand through the inch of chakra-imbued sand and grab a hold Gaara's vest before shoving him into the wall. Even after the sand had recovered and started lashing at her skin, Tsunade didn't let go, just looked into Gaara's face until he had finally snapped out of his daze and met her eyes.

It was then that Tsunade spoke. "Let me make something very clear, Gaara," and in her peripheral vision Tsunade could see all of the Sand-nin bristling at her disrespectful use of the Kazekage's name. All of them but Temari, that is. The fan-wielder just stood there, watching. Tsunade returned her attention to the scarlet-haired shinobi in front of her. Her subordinates could handle the Suna ninja if things went out of hand. "If you attacked my assistant out of some form of retribution for his rudeness, this treaty is effectively over as of now." The bristling to her side stopped instantly. Tsunade was even fairly sure she heard a gasp. "However," and someone behind her let out a breath, "if there is some other reason you have for assaulting Kotetsu, this is the time to speak your piece."

Gaara's eyes never wavered from her own, though his voice when he replied was only outwardly calm. Tsunade had lived far too long to be able to ignore the cracks. "He touched me."

Tsunade waited.

The next breath the young Kazekage took, shuddered. "Shukaku…"

Ah. Ah, hell. So it had been the demon after all. This new revelation was either a very good thing… or a very bad thing. Just then, Tsunade didn't want to figure out which it was. She abruptly released her hold on Gaara and turned around. "I believe we've had enough excitement for one evening. We will continue our negotiations tomorrow." She focused her gaze on Kotetsu, who finally had risen to his feet, and pointedly ignored how the Kazekage's stare never left her back. "Now, what were you saying about a patrol?"

----

Tsunade was still in her office later that night, after the Sand-nin had left to go to their assigned lodgings and she had sent away the help, cursing Sunagakure's council for their shortsightedness. Gaara was powerful, yes; intelligent, determined, and he had ties to Sand Village through his brother and sister, so in theory he wasn't impossible to deal with. In theory. In practice, he was possessed by a demon he didn't have complete control over. On a conscious level, perhaps, but it wasn't Gaara's consciousness Tsunade was particularly concerned about. A shinobi's saving grace was his instincts, and the only way Gaara could operate properly as Kazekage was to excise those instincts, to suppress his subconscious to the best of his ability. Too bad the best of his ability wasn't good enough. Gaara, as young as he was, had the full potential to become a brilliant leader. Potential wasn't good enough either. It would take only one slip, one mistake, and the hope of Sand Village would become its downfall. Idiocy, for the Sand council to rely on the boy. Gaara wasn't Naruto; whatever Naruto had that made it possible for him to ignore the voices in his head until the convenient moment, Gaara didn't have it, and unless he somehow acquired Naruto's strength, be it from somewhere within himself or from an outside source, Tsunade couldn't in good conscience allow Konoha to rely on the Sand.

Tsunade was considering a tactful way to tell Sunagakure's representatives that there would be no more contact between them unless one of Gaara's siblings took up the reigns of leadership in place of their younger brother when her door creaked open and the subject of her thoughts walked through the threshold, stopping before her desk. He didn't say anything, not that Tsunade expected him to. He just stood there, and watched her. Tsunade arched her fingers and watched him back. She felt no particular obligation to start a dialogue; it was late, she was tired, she didn't feel like babysitting, and for once she didn't mind waiting.

The quiet standoff didn't waver for several minutes. When the silence was finally broken, Gaara's voice was so low Tsunade had to strain to hear his words. "You hurt me."

Tsunade gave a shrug; even if she looked, she doubted she would find any remorse within herself, so she didn't bother. "That's too bad. You hurt my subordinate."

"I know." A pause. "I'm sorry."

Tsunade quirked one eyebrow; from his tone, it seemed Gaara wasn't used to giving apologies. Interesting he bothered with one now. "Really?"

Gaara's eyes glanced to the side. It took a few seconds for Tsunade to realize that it wasn't out of embarrassment, but because the Sand-nin was looking at something that wasn't there. "He was… so frail. I didn't mean to… so _easy_…"

Tsunade felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. It wasn't a happy smile. "It's a funny thing about humanity, how easily we get hurt."

"I don't." The authority with which the young Kazekage said those two words inadvertently made Tsunade believe him despite the ease with which she had shoved him into the wall mere hours before. "You don't, either. Does that mean we're not human?"

_No_ was first thing on the tip of Tsunade's tongue, an instinct that had arisen out of months of comforting Naruto on an occasional bad night, and even further back, doing the same for Orochimaru. Except it hadn't worked for Orochimaru, and Gaara had far more in common with the snake sannin than he did with Naruto, no matter the superficial similarities the two jinchuuriki had between them. Gaara didn't possess Naruto's strength, no; what he had instead was a desperation born out of a deep, unwilling knowledge of the nature of darkness and how easily it could consume you. _No_ was the easy answer; it wasn't the right one.

"Probably. What human could do what we can, after all?" Tsunade's careless confirmation of his fears made Gaara's eyes go wide.

"But… but I want… to be human." Without his gourd on his back, without his guards at his side, with that soul-wrenching disappointment so obvious in his eyes, bereft of instability, Gaara really was a child. Like Nawaki had been. Like Naruto was.

It was this sudden juxtaposition that prompted Tsunade to unexpected compassion for someone who before from her had prompted nothing but irritation, to rise from her desk and walk to stand beside Gaara. This time when she touched him, wrapped her arms around his smaller frame, the sand didn't bother to put up even a token resistance.

By all rights, Gaara should have gone rigid, should have flinched. Instead he closed his eyes and let Tsunade whisper into his hair. "Everyone wants to be human, Gaara. But if you're not human, you can protect that which makes others human. Their happiness, their joy. That's why… that's why I became Hokage. And," it was here Tsunade paused, but in the end, this time she succumbed to her instincts. "I believe that's why you became Kazekage. If you keep that in mind, Shukaku will never be able to defeat you. Even if you and I will never be human, that way you won't have to fear becoming a monster."

Gaara's return embrace was slow, hesitant. But she was too strong for him to hurt, and he knew it, so though the sand now swirled around their feet, Gaara didn't let go, and no matter how much his hold tightened, Tsunade knew she wouldn't bruise.

Gaara wasn't Naruto. But he wasn't Orochimaru, either, so lost in his inhumanity that he embraced the wrong parts of what had emerged in place of a soul. Nor Shukaku, who had never been anything but cruelty personified to begin with.

There was nothing human about either of them, really, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was her humanity that had lost her Dan; it was her lack of it that had allowed her to save Naruto. This was the thing Gaara had failed to realize. And maybe now, he knew.

Perhaps, once Gaara figured out how to use his strength to his advantage, he would make a decent Kazekage after all.


End file.
